Candlelight memorial for victims of Arcadia house fire

Balloons, birthday cards, and warm birthday wishes for a woman killed days before turning 47 years old.

A community is mourning the death of Claudia Castillo and her son Abel after a fire burned through their home in Desoto County.

Her co-workers say the community lost a beautiful person who was beaming with positivity and smiles.

Classmates stand together and think of their friend, looking at the memorial outside his home.

A basketball, football, and soccer ball were all signed by the rest of the class.

Abel, 14, loved sports and his teachers say he would have won best all around as a senior. She also describes him as goofy, kind, the kid no one could say a bad thing about.

“Abel was a good kid. He was very polite. He was very nice. You could tell when you first met him, the love that he had for his mother and she had for him and the bond that they shared,” said Becky-Sue Mercer, the executive director of the Arcadia Housing Authority.

Mercer worked with Abel’s mom, Claudia Castillo. She and her baby boy, her youngest and only son, passed Friday morning in a tragic fire that engulfed their DeSoto County home.

DeSoto Fire and the Fire Marshall are yet to give an official cause of the flames that left just the frame and a partial side of the home. Mercer was one of the first to get the call.

She loved Claudia like family and brought the heart-shaped balloons that started this memorial.

“We’re better people just for knowing her. That’s kind of person she was. Like if you knew her, you were better,” said Mercer.

Monday, her work family at the Arcadia Housing Authority decorated her office. Flowers, balloons, and a happy birthday sign strung across her filing cabinet. On Monday, she would have turned 47 years old.

“She’s celebrating her heavenly birthday today,” said Mercer.

And her three adult daughters, along with four grandsons, friends, family, and coworkers, all celebrated, remembering the two at a candlelight memorial on Monday night.

Mercer believes God has a greater plan for them.

“Don’t always know what it is. But he needed her there more than we did right now. And I know that there’s a plan,” said Mercer.

Many prayers, singing and memory sharing.

Arcadia Housing Authority has set up a fund for the family to help cover funeral costs.